Pentagon leaks updates: FBI arrests suspect Jack Teixeira

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan said the Pentagon leaks were “damaging” to the US government.

“Despite the best efforts of officials – not just at the Pentagon but at the State Department and at the White House –- this is a damaging allegation,” Jordan said.

“One of the questions that kept coming up during the regular press briefing at the Pentagon on Thursday is whether someone so young should have had a high-level security clearance.”

A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office in Boston has said Teixeira is expected to make his initial appearance on Friday.

The Department of Justice has not said what charges the 21-year-old would face but Reuters reported they will likely involve criminal charges of willfully retaining and transmitting national defence information.

Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor now with the law firm Morrison Foerster, told the news agency that the likely charges could carry up to 10 years imprisonment, even if Teixeira did not intend to cause harm.

Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner has called on the US intelligence community to “review its policies to ensure such a breach cannot happen again”.

“The recent leak of highly sensitive classified material has threatened the safety of Americans, especially military and intel personnel,” Magaziner said in a tweet.

The recent leak of highly sensitive classified material has threatened the safety of Americans, especially military and intel personnel.

Those found responsible must be held accountable, & the intel community must review its policies to ensure such a breach cannot happen again.

— Congressman Seth Magaziner (@Rep_Magaziner) April 13, 2023

The arrest of Teixeira has come amid widespread speculation about who leaked the secret Pentagon files and why.

The Justice Department has said Teixeira, who serves in the US Air Force National Guard, was arrested “in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorised removal, retention and transmission of classified national defence information”.

To find out what we know so far about the suspect, read more here.

The arrest of Teixeira, 21, has raised questions about how one of the most high-profile US intelligence leaks in years could have been caused by such a young, low-ranking service member.

But Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the department entrusts its members “with a lot of responsibility at a very early age”.

“Think about a young combat platoon sergeant and the responsibility and trust that we put into those individuals to lead troops into combat. That’s just one example across the board,” he told reporters.

“So you receive training and you will receive an understanding of the rules and requirements that come along with those responsibilities.”

He added that when it comes to secret documents, respecting such responsibilities is also “about the law”.

Several media outlets and wire services have posted photos of Teixeira’s arrest in North Dighton, Massachusetts.

Dressed in red shorts and a t-shirt, and with his arms behind his back, Teixeira can be seen in one of the images walking down a path accompanied by heavily armed, uniformed FBI agents.

The Pentagon has said it cannot comment directly on the US Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the leaks, but said the release of classified material was a “deliberate criminal act”.

“We do have stringent guidelines in place for safeguarding classified and sensitive information. This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder told reporters.

“We have rules in place. Each of us signs a nondisclosure agreement – anybody who has a security clearance. And so, all indications are that this was a criminal act, a willful violation of those,” he added.

LIVE: @PentagonPresSec @USAirForce Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder holds a news briefing at the Pentagon. https://t.co/McADAnTJvy

— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) April 13, 2023

Some of the leaked Pentagon files suggest that the US was monitoring United Nations chief Antonio Guterres because it believed he was too soft on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

The documents appear to reveal private communications between Guterres and his deputy that focused on a Black Sea grain export deal, which, according to the leaked papers, the UN secretary-general was eager to preserve and willing to accommodate Russian interests to make happen.

Read more here.

US President Joe Biden has played down the significance of the leaks, saying that the information in the documents was not “contemporaneous”.

“I’m not concerned about the leak. I’m concerned that it happened, but there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that is of great consequence,” Biden said prior to the arrest of the suspect, Teixeira.

Read more here.

Information contained in the leaked classified US documents has exposed sensitive state secrets, including details of Ukraine’s preparation for a spring offensive, and suggested that the US has been spying on its allies.

From Ukraine to South Korea to the Middle East, the documents contained some major revelations that were meant to be shared with top US military officials.

Read about the latest takeaways from the leaks here.

Here is the US attorney general’s full statement to reporters on the arrest of Teixeira:

“Today, the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorised removal, retention and transmission of classified national defence information. Teixeira is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard. 

“FBI agents took Teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident. He will have an initial appearance at the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. I want to thank the FBI, Justice Department prosecutors and our colleagues at the Department of Defense for their diligent work on this case. 

“This investigation is ongoing. We will share more information at the appropriate time.”

Amid the growing uncertainty about the leaked US intelligence assessments, experts have said the incident is “damaging” to Washington’s intelligence-gathering and foreign policy.

More specifically, analysts said the leaks risk exposing intelligence sources and could cause a diplomatic headache for Washington.

“I think the United States needs to do a better job of securing classified information,” Mick Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official who also served in the CIA, told Al Jazeera.

Read more here.

"The United States needs to do a better job of securing classified information."

Pentagon leaks damage US security, analysts say https://t.co/cZi4ghyuK6 pic.twitter.com/FgFsFGKM7N

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 13, 2023

The arrest follows various reports in US media that said authorities had identified 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, as the leader of the Discord chat group where the documents were first posted.

The FBI had not confirmed if Teixeira was the person arrested.

The National Guard did not immediately confirm Teixeira’s identity but said in a statement: “We are aware of the investigation into the alleged role a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman may have played in the recent leak of highly-classified documents.”

The Pentagon referred questions to the Department of Justice. US media reported that Teixeria worked in the guard’s intelligence wing.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has confirmed the identity of the man arrested in connection with the document leaks as 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

Garland said Teixeira was charged with unauthorised removal of classified national defence information.

“FBI agents took Teixeira into custody earlier this afternoon without incident,” Garland said.

The FBI has said it has made an arrest in the investigation into leaked US intelligence documents.

The agency said it had “made an arrest and is continuing to conduct authorised law enforcement activity at a residence in North Dighton, Massachusetts”.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland will make a statement on the situation at 2:30pm (18:30 GMT).